Ugandan rebels slaughter 25

Rebels fighting an 18-year insurgency raided a village in northern Uganda, hacking and burning to death at least 25 people, including eight children, an army spokesman said today.

The rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army attacked Lokodi village in Gulu district, said Lieut Paddy Ankunda.

“The victims were hacked to death and others were burnt in their huts,” Ankunda said by telephone from Gulu town, 225 miles north of the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

Government troops were pursuing the insurgents, he added.